Establishing a successful biomedical research institute : the story of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

Abstract

Biomedical research is enjoying its golden era. It promises improvements to human health in the near future. The field is witnessing a brisk inflow of human and financial capital. In an attempt to capitalize on this growth, biomedical research centers are being established worldwide. There is relatively little literature to explain how biomedical research institutes become successful. This thesis analyzes the founding and growth of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, a leading not-for-profit biomedical research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in an attempt to identify its critical success factors. The Whitehead Institute was founded in 1982 with a generous philanthropic donation. It is affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Whitehead Institute has since enjoyed a symbiotic and productive relationship with MIT through their joint teaching, research, and administrative activities. The Whitehead Institute is renowned for its research in a number of biological areas, including the sequencing of the human genome, cancer biology, and developmental biology. The success of the Whitehead Institute is remarkable because of its relatively small size and short history. Some of the critical success factors of the Whitehead Institute include: quality scientists, Institute endowments, affiliation to a top university, sound scientific decisions, location in a thriving biomedical research hub, and a collegial and family-like culture. These success factors are complementary to one another. In the concluding chapter, the thesis addresses the challenges confronting the Whitehead Institute, and postulates the feasibility of transplanting the 'Whitehead Model' elsewhere.